The New Stuff of Legend: In Search of the Bad Wolf
by hawkerin
Summary: While exploring a new planet, Rose suddenly disappears. Alex had been warned about this, but how can he use that knowledge to find her? (takes place after Fancy Meeting You Here)
1. Bliss

**Notes: This story has been rattling around in my head for a while and finally shook loose. A huge thank you goes to tenroseforeverandever for all of her help with this while thedoctormulder is unavailable to beta for me. The whole thing is done and it isn't terribly long, so I'll probably post a chapter a day because I'm not terribly patient.**

Rose hummed around Alex's erection as she tipped over the edge from Evander's ministrations with his fingers and tongue. That was all it took to push Alex over the edge as well, considering Evander's other hand had been massaging his balls along with Rose. Alex shouted loudly before falling onto the bed next to her. Evander was happy to please them both at the same time as he had been treated to them waking him earlier with kisses and petting, escalating to Rose riding him to completion. The three of them were fully immersed in wedded bliss. Between visiting alien worlds and running for their lives, dinner dates and shopping trips, the trio would all tumble into bed and bask in the love they all shared for each other.

After lying snuggled together for several minutes, Rose sighed happily. "We should go somewhere random today."

"Looking for a little adventure?" Evander asked.

Rose hummed her agreement.

"Perhaps a shower first," Alex suggested. "That was a bit athletic," he added with a smile.

"Definitely. Then take me somewhere brand new," Rose told them.

The trio gathered in the console room an hour later, freshly showered and dressed. Alex still favoured his brown, pinstriped suits, paired with an oxford and patterned tie. Evander had toned down the formality of his attire by replacing his buttoned shirts with jumpers beneath his jacket, saying it made him look less like a magician. Since her regeneration, Rose was back to the styles she'd preferred as a human, wearing mostly jeans and t-shirts with a denim or leather jacket.

"Would you care to do the honours of spinning the randomizer, love?" Alex offered as he and Evander wandered around, flicking the switches and levers that would send their lovely ship through the vortex to their next destination.

"Take us somewhere brand new, Sexy," Rose requested as she activated the controls.

They all smiled excitedly as they exited the ship together. The planet was Earth-like, with green grass and rolling hills all around them, but they could tell from the spin of the planet and slight differences in atmospheric composition that it wasn't Earth. The sky was overcast and the air was cool and damp, reminding them of the English countryside in the fall. There was a path nearby, so they picked a direction and started to follow it.

The three of them had been together for about 15 years, as best they could keep track. They occasionally went to pick up their friends for a trip or two. Jack, Clara, Mickey and Martha, or even Sarah Jane and her friends joining them from time to time. The connections to Earth kept them grounded and reminded Rose of her heritage despite all the changes she'd undergone. Knowing they would outlive their friends (with exception of Jack) by centuries, they liked to spread out the time between those visits, to prolong their time with them as much as possible. But for now, they were travelling with just the three of them and enjoying the privacy that allowed on their ship.

"Any idea where we are, boys?" Rose wondered.

"Not sure from what little we've seen," Evander replied. "There looks to be a castle or something up ahead though. Maybe someone there could tell us more."

"Can't even really narrow it down based on the architectural style," Alex added.

After knocking on a few doors and getting no reply, they made their way inside, finding all of the doors unlocked. There didn't seem to be anyone there, but there were signs of recent fires for cooking, fresh water, and food. Wherever the people had gone, they'd left recently from what they could tell.

"Doesn't seem to be dangerous. Maybe we should split up and look around some more?" Rose suggested.

"That would probably be best," Alex agreed.

"Look for any writing, signs of fighting, anything out of the ordinary," Evander told them.

"The usual," Rose said with a wink, before they all turned in different directions and went exploring the castle.

Alex went up the wooden staircase, two steps at a time. It was dimly lit due to the lack of torches or candles, but there were a few windows to allow light into the castle. On the second floor, he found several bedrooms, none of which revealed much to him. The fabrics in the clothing and bed sheets were something similar to wool and linen . There were no books or artwork to give him any real reference to tell them where they were or what might have happened to all the people.

At the end of the hall, however, he came to an office. This gave him a little more hope of finding something useful. Searching the shelves, he found book after book of fairy tales from across the entire universe. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Alex couldn't understand how someone living in a dark-age castle would have access to all of this.

"_I think I've found something. But I'm not sure what,"_ Alex thought to his spouses.

"_Where are you?"_ Evander asked.

"_Upstairs,"_ he replied and felt both of their acknowledgment.

Moving to the desk, he looked for something that might be handwritten. There were a few sheets of parchment, an ink bottle, and a pen. Most of the pages were blank, but there was one right in the middle of the desk where it looked like the pen had been dropped in the middle of writing a message. "Time L–"

He stared at the writing in disbelief. It was his own.

A few moments later, Evander joined Alex in the office and looked around. "This is an odd collection," he commented.

"I thought so too. What I'm more concerned about is this," Alex told him, gesturing to the parchment with a raised brow.

"That's _your_ writing," Evander said.

"I know. How- hang on, where's Rose?" Alex wondered and tried to seek her out telepathically.

At that precise moment, both Alex and Evander winced in pain as their link to her was partially blocked, leaving them only with the sense that she was in incredible pain and absolutely terrified.

"Where did you last feel her?" Alex gasped.

"Outside, I think. Checking the stables or something?" Evander told him as they ran from the room.

They were finding it hard to focus through the intense pain and interference over their bond, but there were very few races in the universe that could affect them this way and they knew that meant that Rose was in danger. Finally reaching the area they thought she had been exploring, the Time Lords could see no sign of a struggle or trail left behind.

"Let's get back to the TARDIS and run a scan," Evander suggested.

"Good, yes," Alex said and started running back towards their ship.

"What do you think that message meant? Time Lords? Asking us for help?" Evander pondered.

"If I wrote it, I wasn't asking us for help. It would be to tell us what's going on, don't you think?" Alex replied.

"Ok, something about the timeline?"

"Doubt it. Since I already know the note is there, I also know that there won't be a lot of time to write it before I drop the pen. I'd go for something short and to the point. And this energy barrier was not here when we came," Alex rambled until they were both stopped in the road by a force field.

"Whoever is behind this, doesn't want us getting back to the ship," Evander growled.

"Maybe I managed to leave another clue in that room," Alex sighed as they both turned and headed back to the castle.

Evander used his sonic screwdriver to scan the area for the source of the force field, but couldn't find any trace of a power source and decided that it must be set up from outside of their little prison. They agreed that this had been set as some kind of trap, their opponent knowing of their arrival from whenever Alex had been there previously to leave the note.

Scouring the office once again, all they could find were books of fairy tales. They found it difficult to concentrate with the constant pounding in their heads. Knowing that Rose was afraid and out of their reach was almost unbearable, but they needed to focus on solving this puzzle. What they found were stories from Earth, Sto, Barcelona, Apalapucia, Delphon, Castrovalva, Jahoo, the list went on and on. As they considered the content of all of the stories, the connection became clear.

"Bad Wolf," the pair said together.

As soon as they spoke the phrase aloud, a sudden beeping noise brought their attention back to the desk where they saw a small disintegration ray emanating from the ink bottle destroying all of the papers and the pen.

"What?!" Alex shouted.

"Why would they do that? There wasn't anything else on those pages," Evander protested.

"Hold on, hold on, what if I wasn't here before?" Alex said.

"Well, obviously you were. How else could you leave yourself a message?"

"What if it's a Time Loop?"

The duo stared at each other in wide eyed shock before checking every desk drawer to find fresh paper and a pen. They couldn't be sure how much time they had before the loop reset, but if they could just get a message through to the next loop, they might figure it out sooner and work on breaking out. Alex managed to write 'Time L-'


	2. Loop

Evander had been checking the kitchen for anything out of the ordinary when Alex had called them upstairs to see what he'd found. The food hadn't given him much sense of the identity of this planet. The various fruits and vegetables seemed to be a mix of things from several different planets, and he couldn't identify where the animal the meat was from at all.

It didn't make sense for a planet with this level of technology to have foods from different planets. It didn't seem likely they would be trading with species from other worlds and not have improved their own technology to at least include electric lights as opposed to candles and torches.

A few moments later, Evander joined Alex in the office and looked around. He noticed that the books on the shelves were also from across the universe. "This is an odd collection," he commented.

"I thought so too. What I'm more concerned about is this," Alex told him.

"That's your writing," Evander said, looking at the note on the desk.

"I know. How- hang on, where's Rose?" Alex wondered and tried to seek her out telepathically.

At that precise moment, both Alex and Evander winced in pain as their link to her was partially blocked, leaving them only with the sense that she was in incredible pain and absolutely terrified.

"Where did you last feel her?" Alex gasped.

"Outside, I think. Checking the stables or something?" Evander told him as they ran from the room.

They were finding it hard to focus through the intense pain and interference over their bond, but there were very few races in the universe that could affect them this way and they knew that meant that Rose was in danger. Finally reaching the area they thought she had been exploring, the Time Lords could see no sign of a struggle or trail left behind.

"Let's get back to the TARDIS and run a scan," Evander suggested.

"Good, yes," Alex said and started running back towards their ship.

As they were running, Evander had the unnerving feeling that he was forgetting something. There was an odd familiarity to all of this.

"Do you feel it?" Evander wondered, stopping in his tracks.

"Feel what?" Alex asked. "All I can feel right now is that Rose needs us."

"Déja vu?" Evander told him.

"What?" Alex responded, stopping suddenly to look at him. "Oh. You don't think?"

"That you were trying to tell yourself that there's a Time Loop here?"

Alex pulled out his sonic screwdriver to scan for any technology that could cause something like that. He discovered that there was some kind of energy field blocking them from leaving the area or making it back to the TARDIS, but couldn't trace a power source or device that could generate a localized time loop.

"We don't know how long we have before the loop resets, but you'd best write yourself as much of a note as you can so we'll have more notice next time," Evander suggested.

"Right. Let's get back upstairs," Alex agreed.

As it turned out, they had plenty of time for Alex to finish writing the words 'Time Loop' as well as a note about Rose being abducted and them being trapped here by some kind of force field. Once he had done that, they continued searching the room for more clues about who had done this or possibly to find the time loop generator. It could be anywhere, but this seemed as good a place to start looking as any.

"Alex, I just noticed a connection between all of these stories," Evander said as Alex closed the book he was looking through.

"They're all fairy tales," Alex replied.

"They're all fairy tales with a wolf."

"Bad Wolf," they said together.

As soon as they spoke the phrase aloud, a sudden beeping noise brought their attention back to the desk where they saw a small disintegration ray emanating from the ink bottle destroying all of the papers and the pen.

"What?!" Alex shouted.

"Damn it! Find some more paper! It's going to reset!" Evander shouted.

"I'm trying! Here! Paper," Alex said as he pulled a few pages from one of the desk drawers.

"Pen," Evander added, placing it down in front of his husband.

Knowing that he wouldn't have time for the whole note he had written previously, Alex started with the most important bit of information, "Time L-"

-{

Moving to the desk, Alex looked for something that might be handwritten. There were a few sheets of parchment, an ink bottle, and a pen. Most of the pages were blank, but there was one right in the middle of the desk where it looked like the pen had been dropped in the middle of writing a message. "Time L–"

He stared at the writing in disbelief. It was his own.

A few moments later, Evander joined Alex in the office and looked around. "This is an odd collection," he commented.

"I thought so too. What I'm more concerned about is this," Alex told him, gesturing to the parchment with a raised brow.

"That's your writing," Evander said.

"I know. How- hang on, where's Rose?" Alex wondered and tried to seek her out telepathically.

At that precise moment, both Alex and Evander winced in pain as their link to her was partially blocked, leaving them only with the sense that she was in incredible pain and absolutely terrified.

"Where did you last feel her?" Alex gasped.

"Outside, I think. Checking the stables or something?" Evander told him as they ran from the room.

They were finding it hard to focus through the intense pain and interference over their bond, but there were very few races in the universe that could affect them this way and they knew that meant that Rose was in danger. Finally reaching the area they thought she had been exploring, the Time Lords could see no sign of a struggle or trail left behind.

"Let's get back to the TARDIS and run a scan," Evander suggested.

"Good, yes," Alex said and started running back towards their ship.

As they were running, Evander had the unnerving feeling that he was forgetting something. There was an odd familiarity to all of this.

"Do you feel it?" Alex asked.

"Déja vu," Evander replied.

"Yeah," Alex said as they both froze in place. "Time Loop! That's what the note was!"

"So do we go back and write it first or try to find a way out of here?" Evander asked.

Alex turned the idea over in his head a few times and decided that it would be best not to waste time with the note and to just work on escaping. They found that they were trapped by some kind of energy field and tried to disrupt it using both of their sonic screwdrivers. They needed to get to their wife as quickly as possible, to relieve the agony they were feeling through their bond, but after hours of going through every single frequency they could think of, they hadn't made any progress and went back to the castle for something to eat.

"Even if the force field is being controlled from outside, the time loop generator has to be in here somewhere. We just have to find it," Evander insisted as they ate some supper.

"But it could be anywhere. It doesn't have to be big for an area this size. We're looking at a few square kilometers at most and maybe a time range of a day or two. How are we supposed to find something that small before it resets and we forget any of this happened and start all over again?" Alex argued.

"Let's start with the place we know you've been in the last loop," he suggested.

Back in the office upstairs, they searched the room for any sign of technology that could trigger a time loop. Evander checked around and behind the bookshelves, while Alex searched the desk. There was more paper in the drawers, as well as a few pens.

"I wonder if this is what you were talking about," Alex mumbled.

"What?" Evander asked.

Alex sighed. "A little while back, Rose and I met a future version of you. You warned us a bit, but no real details. Just assured Rose that we were coming for her and told me to track the bracelet."

"What bracelet?" he questioned, not getting the reference.

"The one she got with velvet and curls that said Bad Wolf on it," Alex replied.

As soon as he said the phrase aloud, a beeping noise brought their attention back to the desk where they saw a small disintegration ray emanating from the ink bottle, destroying all of the papers and the pen.

Evander cursed harshly in Gallifreyan as they both scrambled to find fresh paper and a pen to write the needed note to themselves before the loop reset. Alex considered what they had been looking for the last few hours, however, and decided that the words he had written hadn't helped them. There was hidden technology sitting right in front of them. So, instead of writing the note that he remembered, Alex drew a large arrow pointing straight at the ink bottle.


	3. Escape

Moving to the desk, Alex looked for something that might be handwritten. There were a few sheets of parchment, an ink bottle, and a pen. Most of the pages were blank, but there was one right in the middle of the desk where it looked like the pen had been dropped in the middle of writing a message. He couldn't understand though why he was staring at an arrow on the page.

A few moments later, Evander joined Alex in the office and looked around. "This is an odd collection," he commented.

Alex hummed in agreement while staring at the arrow. It pointed vaguely towards the door, but also a bit toward one of the bookshelves. Evander had joined him at the desk to see what had his husband so confused.

"Why is there an arrow pointing at the bottle of ink?" he wondered.

"What?" Alex asked and looked back at the desk top.

Evander scanned the bottle with his sonic and they both stared at the results.

"Where's Rose?" they both questioned aloud and tried to seek her out telepathically.

At that precise moment, Alex and Evander winced in pain as their link to her was partially blocked, leaving them only with the sense that she was in incredible pain and absolutely terrified.

"No point in wasting time going to look for her. This is a time loop generator. How long have we been at this?" Evander said, examining the ink bottle more closely.

"Impossible to tell from inside it. Can you shut it off?" Alex asked.

"I think so," he replied, adjusting the setting on his sonic. "There. Let's get back to the TARDIS."

Alex nodded and they ran out of the castle. They didn't get very far before they ran into an energy field blocking their path. The pair spent hours with their sonic screwdrivers trying to disrupt the frequency, with no luck. They sat on a few nearby rocks as they considered what to do next.

"Whoever set this up must have included some kind of beacon that called the TARDIS here as well. They were expecting us but this trip was supposed to be random," Evander reasoned.

"Rose feels different ever since you turned off the loop generator," Alex commented.

"Ever since she was pulled from the loop, we have been feeling everything from her. Every single emotion from the moment we felt the disruption in our bond, for however long we've been stuck here in one huge, concentrated blast. What we're receiving now is live," Evander told him.

They were both on the verge of tears as they realized all they could feel from Rose now was intense loneliness and fear. She had been terrified and in pain throughout everything else they had felt, but now she just felt miserable.

"No wonder you insisted on telling her," Alex mumbled.

"What?" Evander asked, not understanding what he was referring to.

Sighing, Alex explained, "A little while ago, Rose and I met a future version of you. You insisted on telling her that we were coming for her and not to give up hope."

"Me? Did I tell you anything?" he wondered.

"Just to track her bracelet," Alex answered.

Evander thought about that for a moment, wondering what bracelet he could be talking about. "The ancient relic from Gallifrey that the TARDIS gave her?"

"Yup. Did a deep scan of it after that and saved it in the TARDIS databanks. Of course, we need to get to the TARDIS to do anything about it," Alex said with another sigh.

"Any chance you'll tell me what I looked like?" Evander pressed.

Alex smirked and took some satisfaction in saying, "Nope."

They sat there contemplating what to do next when there was a sudden surge in the energy field near them. Not questioning how it had happened, the pair took advantage of the opportunity and ran down the suddenly clear path toward their time ship. Upon reaching sight of its doors, they froze in their tracks.

Leaning against the side of the TARDIS was their mother.

"How?" Alex asked.

"I…" was all Evander could manage.

"We don't have much time before they realize what's happened," she told them, urging both men into motion as they unlocked the doors and rushed inside.

"I'll pull up the scans of her bracelet. How about a little more information?" Alex requested of his mother as he dashed around the console.

"I was removed from the High Council as soon as the nonsense with the Master was over, but I still have a few connections on the inside," she began. "Five years ago, I heard rumours about them having 'an anomaly' in custody that would give them enough power to break Gallifrey out of the bubble universe where it's been sealed. After the crack was sealed, they were desperate to find another way out. I didn't believe the rumours until they described their subject as _formerly human_, but somehow being exposed to the vortex had turned them into a Time Lord. Well, after having met her during the trial so long ago, I knew it had to be your Rose."

"How did you get out of there to help us?" Alex asked.

"Connections again. There were a few scientists who were involved in the process of setting up this trap. They weren't happy once they realized what was being done to the poor girl, and were quite willing to get me out to stop it. " she replied.

"What have they done to her?" Evander growled angrily.

"I can't be completely sure, but I know there have been experiments to try and harness the vortex energy inside of her and use it to force Gallifrey back where it belongs. They only discovered all of that after some rather unpleasant telepathic interrogations. And I believe they only resorted to that after several years of physically torturous questioning failed." She winced, knowing that the information would be painful.

"How long were we in there?!" Evander shouted.

Alex checked the chronometers on the TARDIS systems and gasped, "Ten years?!"

"Oh gods!" Evander cried, falling to his knees on the floor. "No wonder it feels like she's given up hope."

"We'll find her," Alex growled. "We'll find her and break her out of there and make sure Rassilon and his lackeys taste a bit of their own medicine as well."

Their mother helped Evander to his feet and urged him over to help Alex with piloting them back to Gallifrey. There were tears in his eyes and Alex hugged him in support before they got down to work.

"Using a trace on the readings I took of Rose's bracelet, I can see the conduit they used to send you through. Did you have a capsule of any kind?" Alex asked.

"Only the shielding from a Time Ring. They couldn't risk me being detected," she told them.

"I can't materialize around her. They would deflect the TARDIS easily. We'll need to find a way in once we get there," Evander sighed.

"Leave that to me and my connections," their mother said.

The Doctors could tell that their mother was furious about the situation, but unlike them, she had had more time (years!) to process it all and was able to keep herself calm and focused. They, on the other hand, had felt like they'd only been exploring a strange new planet with their wife less than a day ago. The idea that she'd been imprisoned and tortured for the last ten years was unthinkable. What kind of condition would she be in after all of that? Could she even bear to look at them, knowing that it was their fault the Time Lords were after her at all?

"Stop it," their mother snapped, sensing the turn of their thoughts. "You cannot blame yourself for this. No doubt, she will be traumatized from this experience, but all the more reason for you to be confident, loving, and focused on _her_, not your own self flagellation."

Evander and Alex looked at each other, amazed that after all this time, their mother still knew them so well. And they knew she was right, it was selfish to think about how this affected them when Rose was the one that needed help. The men nodded to each other, determination setting in.

"You're right, Mother." Alex responded. "What's the plan?"

"I plan on getting her the hell out of there and blowing up the building while we high tail it back to normal space," Evander snarled.

"And what of all the innocent people still trapped on Gallifrey?" his mother pointed out.

He looked away, ashamed that he was feeling so ruthless, but having difficulty seeing past what had been done to Rose.

"I know, Evander, but we have to look at the bigger picture." Alex told him. "They're doing this because they think they can use her to break Gallifrey out of the prison that we put it into. If we don't solve that bigger problem, they'll just find a way to come after us again." .

"And how do you propose we keep the war from starting all over again?" Evander argued. "I know you weren't there when the Church of the Papal Mainframe and all the other dangerous races in the universe found out that it was Gallifrey sending that message, but you saw the memories. They'll attack the planet immediately, before there's even a chance for negotiations."

"Then we set conditions that those on the Council who were responsible for what happened be forced to step down," their mother suggested. "That a new Council be elected, with goals of peaceful coexistence with our neighbours, and not setting ourselves up as rulers of the cosmos."

"That probably won't appease most of them," he grumbled.

"What about if, when we put it back, we don't put it where it was?" Alex said. "What if we put it in another galaxy entirely? The people who knew the Time Lords and what they were like won't find them right away and they can make alliances with the nearby systems and prove themselves before anything bad happens."

"That might work," he agreed.

"It's a brilliant idea, son," their mother told them.

The Doctors landed the TARDIS at Braxiatel's cottage, where Alex and Rose had hidden before the trial involving his sixth incarnation. They were both standing on the balcony, looking out at the red grass where Alex had lain with her and stared up at the suns, thinking they had been about to say goodbye to Gallifrey forever. They had shared the memory of that time with Evander and he and Alex hoped that all three of them could spend some time here after this was all over. If Rose could stand being anywhere near him or any other Time Lords ever again.

"Come inside, boys. Your brother and I have a few ideas and need your input," their mother called to them.

Sitting together on the sofa, Alex and Evander waited to hear what Brax had in mind.

It took a few hours of planning, with a lot of arguing and shouting, but they were finally ready to rescue Rose. Unfortunately, that meant that Alex and Evander needed to go to the other side of the Citadel from where she was being held. They had eventually given in to the logical conclusion that they would be captured immediately, as they were the ones who were expected to rescue her. So, Braxiatel and their mother were the ones tasked with going inside, once the Doctors created a sufficient distraction.

It was relatively easy to sneak their way into the communication hub for the planet. Just their usual method of _walk in like you belong there and people assume that you do_.

They were relieved to find there was only one person monitoring the systems when they got there.

"There are pastries in the break room. You'd better go grab some before they're all gone," Alex told him. The man looked eager, but glanced back at the screen. "We'll keep an eye on it for you."

With that, the man dashed from the room and Evander quickly locked the door behind him. With a few adjustments on his sonic, Evander activated the explosives that they had set to go off in the arboretum. They had made sure that no one was in there and sealed the doors so that no one would go in while they set everything up. It was just to get some attention, not hurt anyone.

"Oop, that did it alright," Alex said as he saw orders fly by over the comm channels to investigate. It left only two of the Chancellory Guards in the area of Rose's cell. "Go on, Brax," he told his brother through their secure channel.

"Looks like they've noticed us as well, Alex," Evander announced as he watched the security cameras for the hallway outside.

"Good, deadlock that door while we wait for them to get the shielding around Rose's cell deactivated," he responded.

"On it, but even that will only hold this lot so long," Evander warned.

"I know. Hopefully it will be enough," Alex sighed, focusing all of his attention to be ready for the moment he could transmat Rose out of there and into their arms. He had already set up the coordinates and just needed to press one button.

"Looks like they got our message in the arboretum," Evander said, watching the security cameras from there. The explosives made a lot of noise and smoke, but when that cleared, it essentially left the whole place covered in roses.

At that point, they noticed that security was cutting through the door behind them. They had about five minutes left.

"Come on. Come on. Come on, please," Alex whispered urgently.

"There! Hit it now," Evander shouted.


	4. Saved

In a flash of light, a small figure dressed in a tattered, white dress appeared in the room. Evander rushed to her side and picked her up off the floor. Rose simply stared straight through them, not acknowledging their presence at all. Evander gently tried to tip her face up to look at him, but her eyes remained unfocused in the middle distance. Her husbands exchanged a worried look, but knew they still needed to escape from the building before they could attend to Rose's fragile mental state. Alex changed the transmat coordinates and joined his spouses in the middle of the room. Activating his sonic, he sent them back to his brother's cottage and scrambled the controls so they couldn't be immediately traced.

The moment they appeared in Brax's living room, Alex and Evander had Rose sat between them on the sofa.

"Sweetheart, can you hear me?" Alex asked.

"Darling, what's wrong?" Evander said at the same time.

Tears started leaking from her eyes as she began to tremble, but she still wouldn't look at either of them and had their r telepathic bond locked up tight.

"I'm going to get you some water and something to eat, love. I'm not leaving you, I promise," Alex assured her before running to the kitchen for the snack they had prepared for her. They were reasonably sure that she hadn't been given more than the bare minimum number of nutrient replacement cubes needed to keep her alive. It would take her system a little while before it could handle regular meals again. A little plate of fruit and crackers should be easy enough on her stomach for now. As he was coming back into the room, he heard the telltale sound of a Time Ring, marking the return of Braxiatel and their mother.

"How is she?" their mother questioned urgently.

"I don't know. I can't get through to her," Evander moaned.

"Rose, do you remember me, dear?" she asked, placing herself directly in her line of sight. There was a glimmer of recognition as her eyes focused briefly. "That's it. My name is Felicity, remember? Come on, Rose, your Doctors need you."

Rose blinked for a moment as she processed that statement and they could feel her telepathic barriers loosening slightly. At that, Evander gently caressed their bond, urging more contact but being careful not to startle her. She turned her head abruptly to look at him, it seemed that she needed some kind of confirmation it was really him before she allowed him in.

"I'm here, darling. It's Evander. I'm so sorry that it took so long," he told her softly as she stared at him.

"What have they done to her?" Alex sobbed. At the sound of his voice, Rose spun to see his face as well. He only realized his face was covered with tears when she reached up to wipe them away. "We are sorry, love. So, so sorry."

"It's you," she whispered hoarsely. "You're real."

Alex quickly handed her the glass of water he had brought and helped her to sip it slowly.

"What did they want from you, darling?" Evander asked, entwining his fingers with hers.

"At first, they were just curious about how I became the way I am," Rose explained haltingly. "Did lots of tests on me and questioned me over and over again. When that wasn't enough for them, they started digging in my head. They saw my memories about the Game Station and then they were convinced, for _sure_, that somehow I had the power to break Gallifrey back out into the normal universe. They tried everything to take the energy from me, but nothing would work."

Rose fidgeted with the tattered dress she'd been wearing since her incarceration in the Citadel. She looked down, as if worried the people around her would judge her the way all the other Time Lords had, as a strange specimen to be used. Rose knew that was ridiculous, of course, but it was all she had known for so long. Alex took her hand and entwined their fingers, the way he always did. She glanced over at him and saw nothing but love and compassion in his eyes.

"Did they ever say why they were so sure you had that kind of power?" Alex wondered.

Rose shook her head as they were interrupted by Braxiatel.

"I think I can answer that for you, brother. I managed to break into the computer archives concerning the phrase 'Bad Wolf.' I believe you said that was a key phrase with regard to Rose? It seems that there was a prophecy about the Bad Wolf holding the key to Gallifrey's return," he told them.

"Why would they ever think that? She had nothing to do with it," Evander protested.

"Obviously the visionary saw something, but they're clearly misinterpreting it somehow," Alex said.

"For the moment, the two of you need to deal with the aftermath of our excursion. I will take care of Rose," their mother insisted, despite their protests.

Rose looked slightly panicked that they might leave her again, but Felicity took her into her arms and nodded the Doctors towards the communication screen in the next room. They assured Rose they wouldn't be far and they wouldn't be long, but knew that the 'negotiations' with the Time Lords wouldn't be pretty.

In fact, it took days of debating back and forth from the cottage. The Doctors absolutely refused to leave and speak with the council or Rassilon face to face and it was made quite clear that no one was welcome anywhere near Rose after everything they had done to her.

In the end, it was agreed that a new High Council would be elected, along with a new President. Rassilon would never again be permitted to hold any official position in government and was to be put on trial for the actions taken against Rose, namely abduction, wrongful imprisonment, experimentation on a sentient being, and telepathic intrusion without permission or cause. The Doctors agreed to find a way to return Gallifrey into the Prime Universe, however it would be placed far from its original galactic coordinates and new protocols for interacting with other species would need to be created to prevent a resurgence of what happened in the Time War. They could no longer ordain themselves as a superior race to the rest of the universe. The Time Lords needed to learn to be citizens of the universe rather than its sole guardians.

Rose's healing was slow. She couldn't bear to be left alone, having spent a decade where she'd been held in near complete isolation and the only contact she'd had was hostile. Alex, Evander, and Felicity were with her constantly. Braxiatel went to the Citadel to handle overseeing of the processes agreed to by the Council. It gave Rose a chance to just be smothered in the love of her family. She and the Doctors spent a lot of time snuggling together in the nearby fields of red grass. Felicity spoiled the three of them with comfort food from Gallifrey that reminded the Doctors of their childhood. They never thought they would have this again and Rose needed the time to feel safe.

After a month or so of recuperating, they decided to start tackling the problem of how to move Gallifrey back into the Prime Universe. This had Alex, Evander, Rose, and Felicity all gathered together in the TARDIS to discuss options.

"I'm not even sure how exactly I did it in the first place," Evander sighed, staring at the box that was the Moment at the end of the war.

They hadn't used the Moment to destroy Gallifrey, but it was involved in the calculations that had been carried out by all of his incarnations to remove the planet from the prime universe out from under the noses of the Daleks, so that they would inadvertently fire on each other instead.

"I know you showed me the memory, but can we go over the actual process one more time?" Rose asked, trying to work out how exactly the Bad Wolf might hold the key to it all, as the prophecy had stated.

"The Moment was a weapon that developed sentience,"Evander explained. "The interface tapped into my timeline and chose the face of someone that could inspire me to be the best person that I could be. It was a bit confused though as to whether it was Rose Tyler or the Bad Wolf, possibly because the two aren't exactly separate entities. At the end, we were going to press the button to destroy both sides for the sake of the universe, but we decided to change it and instead, put the planet in stasis by using the power of all of my incarnations and their TARDISes, and funnelled it through the intentions of the Moment's consciousness to put it where it belonged for the time being. When the stasis holding it released, they tried to push through the cracks in the universe and get my attention. I sealed the cracks for a time since there was an armada waiting for them and the universe wasn't ready." .

Rose stared at the box that was the Moment. They had brought it out of storage and put it on the floor of the console room.

"I wonder if I could talk to it?" Rose questioned.

She picked it up from the floor, hoping that by touching it, she might trigger something, but it sat silent and dead in her hands. She frowned at the box but sat on the seat and continued to study it more closely.

"Have we decided where exactly we want to put Gallifrey once we do figure out how to move it?" Alex asked, trying to do something useful while they worked at the bigger problem.

The Doctors discussed possible coordinates, the impact on the surrounding systems by the gravity of a new solar system, and which civilizations were closest for alliances in the future. While they chattered on, Felicity noticed something odd going on with Rose.

"Your bracelet is glowing," she announced.

"Wha?" Rose gasped, suddenly seeing the bright golden light emanating from the bauble she had been given by the TARDIS so long ago. There was a spot on the box in her lap that started to glow as well, a small shape that matched a section of the bracelet. It seemed only natural that one fit into the other. Before she could give herself time to consider the consequences, Rose placed her wrist against the indentation.

Alex jumped toward her to try and stop her from acting before they knew what it was all about, but it was too late. The image of Bad Wolf that they remembered seeing from the Moment at the end of the war, was standing before them once again.

"Is it time?" she asked. "Must be I suppose."

Rose stared at the near copy of herself. The dress was similar to the one they'd put her in during her imprisonment, so she supposed it was some kind of basic Gallifreyan thing. The makeup was odd, her hair a mess, and the way she moved wasn't quite right either.

"Ah! This is Rose Tyler! I told you she was important to you. You didn't believe me before," the Moment told them.

"I hadn't met her yet. At least I didn't remember meeting her at the time. I can hardly be blamed for that," Evander argued.

"Can you put Gallifrey back in the prime universe?" Rose interrupted.

"Of course. You said you just wanted to store it for a while, not get rid of it," she replied.

"Good! Right! Yes, brilliant. So, we've worked out the coordinates of where we want to put it instead of where it was. Is that alright?" Alex said, happy to be back on topic so they could move on from this painful memory of the war.

The Moment nodded as she looked at the coordinates on the screen. For several long seconds, the box, the interface of the Moment and the planet outside the open doors, all glowed with a bright, white light. When the light faded, the box that held the Moment was gone.

"Is it done?" Alex asked, prompting Evander to check the scanners for their current location.

"Yeah. Exactly where we planned. Back in normal space, with friendly neighbours, but not too close to anyone," he replied.

"Why's the bracelet still here?" Rose wondered, staring at it again.

"That was the key that the Visionary saw. The prophecy said that you carried the key, not that you were the key yourself," Felicity told her. "As for why it's here, it's because it's yours."

"Suppose," Rose acknowledged with a shrug.


	5. Back to the Stars

It had been over a decade since Rose had travelled in the TARDIS. As much as she loved the weeks that they spent with the Doctors' mother and brother on Gallifrey, she also longed for the life she had chosen to live with her husbands.

The trio could visit whenever they liked now. Alex and Evander were no longer considered criminals, and their marriage was accepted by the Council and official Houses of the Time Lord families. Rose and any future children were welcome to attend the Academy should they choose to. It all seemed to be wrapped up rather nicely, so they were sure there would be some catastrophe calling them back before too long.

Alex, Evander, and Rose said goodbye to Felicity, assuring her they would return soon. In the meantime, they planned to visit their friends on Earth and maybe take them on a few trips. Rose insisted that they not tell anyone about what had been done to her by the Time Lords. She didn't want people making judgements about Gallifrey and it's people based on her experiences. She wanted to give them every chance to be peacefully reintroduced to the universe, without prejudice. She also didn't want anyone's pity or to have people checking in on her, other than her husbands. They could feel her emotions clearly, and would get her out of any frightening or uncomfortable situations quickly, if needed.

"Where would you like to go first, love?" Alex asked.

"I want chips," she told them, reminding them of that first date after the end of the world.

"Chips it is," Evander said with a smile and set the coordinates.

Rose was thrilled to see that they'd brought her to the same chip shop they'd gone to for their first date. There was a certain nostalgia to it that made her feel like they cherished those moments as much as she did. Thankfully, they didn't make her pay this time, so she found a booth by the windows to people-watch for a bit.

"Here we are, love. Chips and banana milk shakes," Alex told her with a smile as her husbands slid into the booth across from her.

"You forgot the vinegar!" she exclaimed and hopped up to grab a bottle from the counter.

"Could I get some vinegar, please?" she asked the waitress.

"Yeah, here you go," she replied. The woman was young, with a well kept afro and a brightly coloured shirt under her apron. "Haven't seen you around before."

"We travel a lot. Haven't been back in a long time," Rose told her.

"That sounds exciting. If you ever need a tag along, give me a ring," she said with a bright smile.

"I'll keep that in mind. My name's Rose, by the way," she said, offering her hand.

"Bill. Nice to meet you," the young woman replied, shaking her hand over the counter.

"I'd best go eat those chips before they get cold, but maybe we can chat later, yeah?"

Bill nodded enthusiastically and went back to wiping down the counter.

"I think I might have found our next companion," Rose told the Doctors.

"Are you sure you're ready for that, darling?" Evander questioned.

"Look at her timeline," Alex said.

"Oh. That's interesting. Looks like you're right again, Rose. How about we enjoy our date first?" he suggested.

"Absolutely," Rose agreed.


End file.
